Arizona Embrace Read Online Free

able to get my mind on anything else since you mentioned it.”
    Trinity had never been in such an enormous kitchen. A huge black monster of an iron stove dominated one end. Cupboards covered another wall. A fireplace dominated the third. Windows with a view of the distant mountain peaks took up the fourth. A table, made of hand-hewn oak and long enough to seat close to two dozen men, filled the room. A dull cream-colored tablecloth decorated with a border of poorly executed embroidery covered the center of the table.
    But it was the flowers that overwhelmed him. They were everywhere, in large sprays or small bunches, in teacups or large jars on the table and the mantel, even hanging from baskets in front of the windows. And they were fresh from the garden. The pungent odor of newly cut greenery nearly overpowered the softer, more pleasant fragrance of the multitude of blossoms.
    Trinity felt like he’d wandered into a daydream.
    While Victoria took a still-warm pie out of the pie keep and set plates, forks, and cups before them, Grant Davidge plied Trinity with questions about everything from the condition of grass in the country he’d passed through to the whereabouts of various renegade Indian bands. Buc positioned himself by the door, close enough to hear everything being said, but far enough away to show his disapproval.
    “I don’t know anything about this kind of country,” Trinity said when he got a chance. “Does it make good grazing?”
    Victoria tried to tell herself Trinity paid close attention to her uncle, but his gaze hardly seemed to leave her. At first she felt flattered, but she soon found herself wishing he would look elsewhere. His attention disconcerted her. After five years in an all-male environment, she had grown used to being the center of attention, but something about his scrutiny made her feel uncomfortable.
    It wasn’t an appraising glance. She knew that kind well enough. It felt almost as if he disapproved of her. No, something stronger than that. It delved deeper, like he was trying to discover her secrets.
    But that wasn’t quite it either. There was something covertly harsh and accusing about his glance. He couldn’t have appeared more respectful, but she felt his distaste. And she didn’t like it.
    She saw him glance over his shoulder at Buc before giving her a particularly penetrating glare. Did he think she was having an affair with Buc?
    The idea made her furious at Trinity … and at Buc.
    Trinity had no right to look at her that way. He didn’t know anything about her. Did he just dislike her, or did he dislike women in general? No, not women. She remembered the way he looked at her when he first saw her. It was the look of a man who liked women and who fully appreciated what he saw.
    Oh well, it hardly mattered what he thought. He wouldn’t be here more than a few weeks. A few months at most.
    Still she hated to give up on him so soon. She had been sure he would prove interesting to talk to and spend time with.
    “Can I get you anything else?” she asked as she set the pie before Trinity.
    The strange look deep in his eyes had disappeared; a glint signalled the return of his sense of humor. Maybe he did disapprove of her, but it would be nice to be around someone who could make her laugh.
    Besides, she had to figure out why she felt so drawn to him. She felt like she’d known him for years, there had to be some explanation for this feeling. Victoria decided right then and there to find out what it might be.
    “A second piece.”
    Victoria looked at him in surprise, then laughed. “You haven’t eaten the first one. How do you know you’ll like it?”
    “You baked it?”
    “I made it. Ramon baked it.”
    “Then I know I’ll like it.”
    “You must be Irish.”
    “Or one of them Frenchies that came into Texas some time back,” Buc said. “They’ll lie as fast as their tongue can fly.”
    “Don’t you like compliments?” Trinity asked.
    “I guess so, but only